Wednesday, July 1, 2015

IWSG: Write the Story You Want to Tell

July 1, 2015

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

I must confess the Insecure Writer's Support Group has had me perplexed for a while. Author Melissa Bradley mentioned this on her blog several years ago and I’ve lurked around the edges and read the IWSG posts from time-to-time. I finally decided to hop on the train, at least for the remainder of 2015, and see if I have any pearls of wisdom for other writers.

Insecurity is not unique to writers. We all own our fair share whether we like it or not. Personally, I get annoyed with myself when I feel insecure for no good reason. I’ve lived long enough to know there will always, and I mean ALWAYS, be someone smarter, prettier, wittier, thinner, more talented, richer and more successful than me.

There will always be those less successful, less talented, chubbier, uglier, dumber, poorer and who are severely lacking of a sense of humor, too. And no, I don’t get cocky over that fact and use it to pump myself up. That would be tacky.

I think it’s important for every writer to remember what it was that called them to write. That “something” that continues to call them to write even when discouraged or insecure. An old adage states you should write for yourself first because you’re your first reader. I can’t begin tell you how true that is.

The best stories I’ve written were for me and not for a deadline or in hopes of a decent review. In fact, I think most of those stories written to a deadline didn’t turn out all that well, but that’s fodder for another blog.

So here’s my pearl of wisdom for my first IWSG post: Write to please yourself.

Write the story you want to write and don’t worry about anything else until you’ve told it just the way you want to tell it. All the other stuff - proofreading, editing, publishing - it all comes after you write the story, so do the first thing first and do it just for you.

KC Kendricks
http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

To the writers of the IWSG - network with me on Twitter at @kckendricks. 

5 comments:

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Ooh, I hear you. I get so down on myself when I focus on my insecurities. It's such a negative arena to fall into. I want to slap myself. Remembering what called me to write in the first place is a great method to bringing me back to the positive.

Anonymous said...

This is great! Thank you for sharing.

A habit I've tried to develop is putting reasons why I write in places I can see them and thus be reminded of them. For example, I have one quote from a friend that I taped to my monitor that can help on the hard days:
"If you didn't have something to say, you wouldn't be thinking this hard about saying it."

Diane Burton said...

Welcome to IWSG. Good advice to write for yourself. Best wishes for your writing career.

Diane IWSG #99

KC Kendricks said...

Thanks for stopping by Between the Keys and leaving a comment.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Welcome to the IWSG! Good to have you on board and new follower.
I have written for fans before, but I still write what I want. And that has made all the difference in the world.